Conder Structures selects Union Square's Workspace

Monday, 13 October 2008

The adoption of business management solution, Workspace, from Union Square Software has enabled specialist steelworks sub-contractor, Conder Structures Ltd, to completely overhaul its IT infrastructure and document management procedures. Business-critical information, from project documents to customer records and guidance procedures, is now available through a single web-based portal, significantly improving productivity, collaboration and communication within the organisation.

Out with the old...

The need to implement a centralised document management portal came after Conder Structures realised its paper-based procedures and processes were outdated. Jason Hensman, Managing Director of Conder Structures, explains: "When it came to document management, it became apparent that we weren't being very efficient in terms of control and looking after communication. We had a lot of paper-based systems and as you can imagine, this involved a lot of duplication of data as well as numerous photocopies of forms stored incoherently around our head office. A combination of paper files lying around in the office, and the fact that we are geographically split on different sites around the country, meant that we needed to get a system in place that could be used to centralise our document management processes." 

Having examined the market for the appropriate solution, Conder decided on Workspace from Union Square Software. "Union Square offered us just what we were looking for," Hensman notes. "Workspace was not only extremely simple and user-friendly, but it was a really robust system that could help us cope with the documentation demands within our industry. It ticked all of the right boxes for us."

Custom fit

Union Square also developed a variations module specifically for Conder Structures, based on the organisation's requirements. This uniquely tailored module enables Conder to track the changes within a contractual agreement in order to establish whether the pricing for a client will alter as a result. Hensman comments: "For the variation module, Union Square consulted us and listened to our exact requirements before developing the module especially for us. From now on, the system is always open to any amendments we want made - it's an ongoing process, constantly changing to fit in with our evolving needs."

Conder went live with Workspace in September 2007. The system is being used by 90 head office staff along with up to 20 off-site staff based at sites around the country. Originally, the company intended to implement the system into one department at a time, but since the roll-out went so smoothly, it was decided to undertake a company-wide implementation immediately.

"We had initially opted for a phased implementation, but having seen how easy it was to roll out Workspace we decided to go for the big bang approach and implement the system across the entire business. Now everyone is using Workspace which means that all staff have access to the same information, and there is no danger of work being duplicated or documents going missing."

As a sub-contractor, Conder are based on various sites around the UK so remote access to the system was a key requirement. Hensman remarks: "We have a lot of people working off-site and it is crucial that they can have the same access to information as the people in Head Office in order to avoid duplication of work and delays in the overall project."

Forward thinking

Due to its excellent experience with Workspace to date, Conder now plans to implement an additional ‘In-Tray' module from Union Square in the near future. The In-Tray module will allow Conder to scan in all post that arrives at Head Office into the Workspace system so that all employees have access to their hard-copy mail, no matter where they are.

"When we've deployed the In-Tray module, every piece of post that comes through the door of our Head Office will be scanned into the system and emailed to each individual's inbox. We will no longer have to store each item of post in Head Office until the relevant employee can get to it, or forward the incoming post to other branches or offices, which causes considerable hold-ups in delivery of critical documents, and increases the risk of actually losing correspondence. It'll be a far more efficient, simpler process using Workspace, and it will improve our speed of response," explains Hensman.

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